NicoMakian Ethics
by Caribous
Summary: Nico is acting like there's something wrong. Maki discovers she cares more about that than she ever thought possible.
1. Prologue: Nico and her body

**Summary**:

The good has rightly been declared to be that at which all things aim. When we

consider the function of man we find happiness is the virtuous activity of the soul

* * *

The Mu's girls were used to their smallest member, Yazawa Nico, being occasionally moody, and sort of half-assumed that was what was going on. Still, her behavior lately was a bit worrying. When asked if something was wrong, Nico was surly and unresponsive. Her long-time friend Toujou Nozomi was starting to worry, and the rest were starting to suspect something was wrong. All of them but Nishikino Maki, that is.

Maki _knew_ something was wrong. She'd seen how sick people in pain acted, and that's what she was seeing now. She also saw the way Nico sweated during practice. The way someone in agony sweated. The grim set of her jaw as she practiced. Not even trying to force a smile. And then off to sit next to the wall with her head down. She sort of stared blankly at the computer in the club room now, or even simply put her head down and didn't move. She probably wasn't sleeping, as the noise of someone approaching her would usually make her suddenly sit up. Or at least seem to startle her.

_Please, dear gods, let it not be something like cancer,_ she thought. One of the hazards of being the child of two physicians was that she was all too aware that things like that did _not_ spare someone just because they were young, energetic and well-loved. At any rate, she decided to catch Nico alone and talk to her for an extended period. Why she thought Nico would confide in her more than anyone else, she didn't stop to think. Any more than she questioned why she was so _scared_.

* * *

Yazawa Nico was in the bathroom, debating whether to tell her mother. All day, she'd been avoiding going to the infirmary. She really didn't want to know for sure what was wrong with her. She knew that was irrational, but it was her true feeling. She probably couldn't keep whatever condition she had from her family much longer.

Curse her tiny, childlike body. It had never done anything for her, and now it was punishing her, out of the blue. Excruciating, cramping pain and some nausea. Moodiness. Every part of her body felt puffy, too. Her breasts even hurt. If Nozomi touched them now, she'd regret it, if she lived long enough to. Nico let her hair down and tried to look brave and adult. She looked like a little kid trying to look brave and adult.

Maki came in and caught her as she was splashing cold water on her face to wash away the perspiration and feel more normal.

"Nico-chan," Maki said. There was no trace of their usual back-and-forth, which was a little worrying in and of itself. "Can we talk about it? Just you and me, I mean. We don't have to tell the others anything. But can we? If you can make it, we could go back out on the roof."

Nico swallowed her pride and gave Maki her hand. Fortunately for her self esteem, she didn't note what a childlike gesture that was.

Quietly, they made their way up the stairs, out onto the roof, and sat next to each other with their backs to the pillar by the doorway.

"It hurts so much, Maki=chan. I'm scared."

"What hurts, Nico? Where does it hurt?"

"Everywhere," Nico began. "But mostly my stomach."

That could be any number of terrible things, but Maki persisted. "When did it start?"

"A while ago. A couple of weeks. My body started hurting. My chest. Then my stomach felt like I was getting kicked in it."

"Nico, you _need_ to go to a doctor!"

"What if they say something bad is wrong?"

"If so, I'll be here to help you get through it," Maki said. Surprising both of them. "Look," she continued, "Right now, if it's bad, the prefectural and federal health insurance will get you treated for it. If you wait, it could be that nothing can be done. Don't let fear create a self-fulfilling prophecy - it's _always_ better to know than to not know."

Although Nico's 18th birthday was coming up soon, she was still a minor, so her mother would have to arrange for a doctor's visit for Nico. Maki accompanied Nico home and explained the situation to her, away from where the little kids could hear. Unfortunately, the nearest available appointment would be for two weeks from now, after Nico's birthday. So she would be fearful and in pain until then, although a doctor at the clinic she called had prescribed some stronger painkillers than you would buy in the store for short term use. Nico's mother would fill it tomorrow during her lunch break.


	2. Nico and Her Body II

Summary:

We learn intellectual virtues by instruction, and we learn moral virtues by habit and constant practice.

We are all born with the potential to be morally virtuous, but it is only by behaving in the right way

that we train ourselves to be virtuous. As a musician learns to play an instrument, we learn virtue by

practicing, not by thinking about it. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

* * *

Maki stopped by the Nishikino hospital and asked for a patient intake form. She had practiced doing intake, spelling off the nurse receptionist at the hospital, so in that sense, she was professionally qualified. Regardless of where Nico's appointment was going to be, the information would be similar, so this would probably help. Also, it would probably be easier for Nico to talk to Maki than to a stranger, and it might set her at ease.

On an impulse, she took a spare blood pressure kit-bag along.

Instead of going home, she went to the Yazawa's apartment and rang the bell.

As expected, just Nico and her siblings were there. Maki greeted them, then asked Nico if she was taking her pain medicine on schedule. The girl replied, grumpily, that she was. Maki apologized to Cocoro, Cocoa and Cotarou and said she needed to borrow Nico for a while. Apparently, Nico had made a double batch of food the day before, so they were just warming up most of the food, and it was basically ready, so Nico agreed to talk with Maki in Nico's bedroom.

Maki whipped out the form and told Nico what it was.

"If you bring this with you to your appointment, it will save time and probably help a lot, Nico. Answer everything as best you can, and if you think of something later, we can go back. Do you want me to ask you the questions, since I'm here? I won't tell anyone what you say. But if you want, instead, you can answer them on your own and fold it up." She showed Nico an envelope she'd brought to put the intake form in. "Or just ask me about anything you don't understand."

Nico's eyes had teared up. Clearly, she was still frightened. Maki decided she'd ask the questions and only have Nico do it alone if she asked to.

It was a long form, naturally, and she had to ask about many things. It didn't comfort her at all to learn Nico's father hadn't died in an accident, but of some illness. She made a note to ask Nico's mother about it, since Nico didn't fully know what had happened - She had been young, after all. Cocoro barely remembered their father, and the younger siblings didn't remember him at all.

While she was asking questions, she took Nico's blood pressure and pulse. Both were high for a girl of Nico's age and physical condition, but that could simply be due to fear and stress.

Nico's mother didn't have any serious conditions Nico was aware of, thank goodness, but when Maki came to the part of the form where she asked female-specific questions, Nico suddenly froze up.

A strange idea had already occurred to Maki the day before, when she was wracking her brain to come up with ideas about what might be wrong with Nico. She'd dismissed it: it involved two rare conditions, and, moreover, the first one usually precluded the second one. She'd read about both when reassuring herself about her own development. Now, she reconsidered. It was the most hopeful reason that Nico would be upset by these questions, after all.

"Listen, Nico-chan," she began, "If your pain is mostly in the abdomen, you know, you have to start with these questions. Being embarrassed won't do at all."

"Tell me about your periods," she continued.


	3. Nico meets Maki

**Summary**:

An excess of fearfulness constitutes the vice of cowardice, and a deficiency constitutes

rashness. Courage is a difficult and admirable virtue, because it involves enduring pain.

* * *

Nico had first seen her where she saw a lot of others - at UTX. Looking up at the marquee.

She didn't know why her heart missed a beat, why the sight of a red-haired girl amongst the crowd affected her so strongly. They had both talked to themselves, being loners. The redhead was grumbling about having to go to Otonokizaka instead of UTX. In her heart, Nico agreed completely. But something made her grumble to her self about kids who didn't appreciate Otonokizaka. Probably loud enough that the redhead had heard her, because she blushed and turned away.

But now, she was standing outside the piano room, and that same redhead was playing music like an angel. Nico had to stop watching her and sit next to the door and compose herself. Her heart had jolted again when she recognized the girl from the UTX courtyard.

Nico was normally stoic, so she didn't even notice the tears suddenly welling in the corners of her eyes.

* * *

It was only a long time after she first noticed her little audience that Maki paid any attention to her ribbon. Unless she was missing a beat, this childlike creature was a third year. Perhaps, although it was unlikely, she'd skipped several grades and was a genius? Maki could relate a little, if so. She had been able to skip kindergarten and go into first grade at five years of age, because her sixth birthday was so near, and she'd always been considered a prodigy.

She would have talked to her, too, but she recognized her as the pathetic waif constantly trying to hand out school idol fliers to unwilling Otonokizaka students. She was so persistent, it reminded Maki of scenes she'd seen on NHK of girls in a cult, who would be punished if they didn't do enough recruiting every day.

All Maki's nonexistent social life needed to stay nonexistent was to bond with another loner, and a pathetic one at that. She'd never asked for a fan. She played music to soothe herself, not for others' benefit. What was really inconvenient was that her heart somehow jolted when she saw her. Well. That would be another nail in her coffin, if she started obsessing on how cute a girl was.

She resolved never to speak with the girl. And if she had to speak with her, she would certainly never even hint at liking her. Never.


	4. Maki,Nico and loneliness

**Summary**:

Gaudy displays of wealth exhibit the vice of vulgarity, while spoiling an event through penny-pinching

is a sign of person who overestimates self-worth is conceited, and the person who underestimates

self-worth is weak and timid. The right disposition toward anger is similar to patience, though

patience can sometimes be a deficiency, as some anger is occasionally appropriate. The excess

of irascibility manifests itself in people with hot tempers, or worse, people who hold grudges.

* * *

Maki wished Rin at least, and probably Hanayo, would leave her alone.

She was working her hardest all day, every day. She was still being tutored - no time to go to a _juku_. She still helped out at the hospital. She needed to play piano at least an hour a day to stay sane. Her grades had to be perfect, always. She really didn't have time for friends, even though she'd been wistfully hoping to make them.

At least her little fan, whose name, she had found out, was Yazawa Nico, never bothered her. Thank goodness.

She couldn't brush Rin and Hanayo off, when it came down to it. They were too innocent, too sweet. She decided she'd work to schedule hanging out with them in somewhere. Somehow.

* * *

After the trio broke up, and everyone left the idol club, Nico didn't give up. But every time Toujou Nozomi saw her, she seemed a little less confident and a little more unhappy.

She wanted to befriend the girl - she, herself, was something of a loner, due to being moved around, and knew how painful it was - but it felt like a lot of work to break through Nico's aloofness. That was a guilty thought - it was abundantly clear Nico had no friends at Otonokizaka. People pitied her or thought she had been too full of herself. Most thought of school idols as either too frivolous for a national girls' academy or the kind of thing only a wealthy school like UTX could pull off. The sight of Nico and her fliers, and the one poster a month she was allowed on an out-of-the-way bulletin board, became a fixture, a kind of landmark you never really saw. Like a fountain or ivy on a wall.

And so the years passed.

In their final year of school, Nozomi wasn't sure if the latest development was a good sign or a bad sign. Nico spent time she would normally be cloistered in the cobwebby "Idol Research Club" room that wasn't really needed, and no one was quite cruel enough to take away from her, instead sitting outside the music room, listening to a pretty first-year play the piano and crying. Nozomi supposed it kind of counted as human interaction - at least for Nico. She'd heard that when Nico wasn't hiding in the clubroom, she would dash home to take care of her little siblings, so she must have that, as well.

It was years too late, but Nozomi resolved that she would try talking to Nico this year, and persist even if she brushed her off. But things came to a head just as she was resolving that, when a second-year named Kousaka Honoka stole Nico's musician.


	5. NME 05 Nico and her body III

**Summary**:

People mistakenly think that justice is an easy matter, as it simply requires obedience to laws. However, true justice comes

only from a virtuous disposition, and those lacking in virtue are unable to perceive the just course of action in all cases.

* * *

Strained and irritable and driven.

That's how Nico was feeling, all the time, nowadays, and she wasn't sure why. Many things were actually looking up for her. Her fellow school idols had forgiven her for her deception of her family about her status with them, and things were looking up for their group. And today, suddenly, she felt bad in general.

Achy for sure, and weirdly, her breasts were kind of sore. Plus ... it was hard to express in her thoughts but her skin felt puffy. Especially around her eyes? But in general.

Maybe she had been angry at her little body too much, and it was giving out on her?

And right on cue, just as she was saying that, a stabbing pain in her middle doubled Nico over.

It went down into her hips, actually. It eventually subsided, but Nico was frightened. She went to practice nonetheless, and moving around didn't seem to make it any worse or bring back the stabbing pain. She would probably have to see a doctor if it came back.

When Nico got home, her family could tell something was off with her. Her mother almost asked her what was wrong, and her siblings simply hugged her an extra long time.


End file.
